After a good night’s sleep, we wandered off in to Bayeux. Mind you that took all of 5 minutes.
After breakfast it was off to the markets to buy some food. The strawberries are sensational, the cheeses are simply a delight, and I even find the tomatoes to be very tasty. And here I thought that all the food in Europe was stuffed because of environmental problems etc. How wrong was I? It may be stuffed, but it sure tastes good.
I always find it fascinating how different cultures have different tastes in seafood. It was intriguing to see fresh seafood at the markets, particularly to see sharks, stingrays, skinned eel, and other such delicacies laid out for purchase. Some of the fish on display I have caught before, but always considered it to be rubbish, and only good to be thrown back or used for bait. c’est la vie.
We wandered through the main street, again, and tasted some amazing local products. Cider is something the region is renowned for, and I thought that’s what we were tasting. Being an uncultured yobbo, when I think of cider i think of Strongbow cider. How wrong was I. Whatever it was that we were tasting was pure rocket fuel. Awesome stuff. Turns out it was an apple flavoured brandy.
This village was also holding a mediaeval festival. That certainly had the place coming to life.
The place has an amazing medieval cathedral and related buildings. Certainly the festival added to the whole gothic atmosphere and theme.
Then it was off to Omaha Beach and the US war cemetery. It looks impressive when you see it on TV or in the movies, but it takes your breath away when you see it with your own eyes. Actually we had been looking forward to cycling around. There is a nice 60km circuit along the D-Day beaches. But the day started with rain, and it was only blowing about 40 knots by the time we were ready to go. So we wussed out. Felt really soft when we saw some people riding, particularly those that looked like the had just started on ‘the biggest loser’.
We had planned to spend the evening near Mt. Saint Michael. (I will write about that place in our next blog)
On or way we drifted through some beautiful towns and cities, including Greville. What an amazing place, with some amazing buildings, and lookouts. Sensational.
After wandering around this place, John fired up the notebook, and managed to see the last 10km of Stage 1 live. Very cool, although all the commentary was in French, so I had no idea what was going on.
Then it was off to stay at Mont-St-Michel. Will visit tomorrow.
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